Video summary
The video documents a tattoo artist's intense week dedicated to executing three complex cover-up projects, blending professional workflow with personal downtime. The artist begins by sharing his daily routine, which includes celebrating his nephew's birthday and relaxing before diving into the demanding work ahead. His schedule is rigorous, often starting at 5:18 in the morning with a gym session followed by grocery runs and meal prepping to sustain him through long days at the shop. He emphasizes the importance of preparation, noting that he spends significant time designing concepts, printing stencils, and setting up his station before clients arrive, ensuring that every detail is meticulously planned to achieve the desired artistic outcome.
The core of the video focuses on the technical execution of these cover-ups, specifically highlighting the challenges and techniques involved in transforming old tattoos into new masterpieces. The first major project involves covering a large existing design with a lion motif that spans from the shoulder down the arm, potentially connecting to chest pieces to create a unified composition. The artist explains his layering process, starting with dark tones before building up brightness using specific percentages of gray and white highlights to make the new ink "pop" against the old scars. He notes that while the initial surgery or previous tattoo might seem disgusting, experience allows him to work through the texture and color effectively. By the end of the first project, he successfully completes the piece in about five hours, though he acknowledges the physical pain involved for the client, who ultimately decides against a second session on another arm due to discomfort.
The week concludes with two additional projects, including a Lord of the Rings themed cover-up and a futuristic art piece that requires fixing a previous "messy" tattoo. For these later sessions, the artist continues his methodical approach of adding gray tones first to establish depth before introducing white highlights to maximize contrast and clarity. He captures the emotional connection clients feel with their tattoos, noting how the final healed result often looks more beautiful and subtle than expected, removing redness and enhancing the design's sentimentality. After finishing the last project of the week, the artist expresses satisfaction with the high energy from his clients and their families, signaling that he is ready to enjoy his weekend rest after a productive and exhausting series of transformations.
Read the full video transcript
Yesterday I did an insane cover up
project. And if you watch the last
video, this is what I did.
[music]
Tomorrow, back at it again. I'm doing
another impossible cover up. Man, I am
just back to back doing some crazy
covers. But today is my day off, so I'm
going to relax. I'm going to go
celebrate my nephew's birthday and then
hang out with my friends so I can just
relax for today. [laughter]
>> Smell it. Smell it.
>> I told you. [laughter]
>> Go for it. Eat it.
>> No. Don't smell it. Don't smell it. Get
it. Get it. Get it. Get it. Get it.
[cheering and screaming]
>> What is it?
>> Oh, it's the green one.
>> I have a green one. Oh,
I don't want your car.
>> Good morning. Today it is my
consultation. I'm going to be doing
another crazy cover up. So, I'm really
excited to see what we're going to do on
my client. All I know is that I can get
it done, but my consultation is later on
in the day. So, what I'm going to be
doing in the morning is I'm going to go
to the store, get some groceries. After
the consultation, I'm gonna come home
and cook, get my meal prep ready for the
week, and for the rest of the night, I'm
just going to customize the design and
figure out how to make it better.
Here we go. Damn, it's bright as hell
outside.
Hey, on my way to the restaurant, we're
going to have our consultation. I'm
excited to meet my client um and figure
out what we're going to be doing on his
arm. We need a good song. [music]
[singing]
[music]
>> Uh we just got here to the restaurant Ka
16. We're just waiting on the client to
get here. We're about to talk about the
design and the concept that he has in
mind. And I really want to see the cover
up that I'm doing because I saw some
pictures, [music] but honestly, I think
it's gonna get I bet it's gonna look
worse in person.
>> Nice to meet you.
>> Hi. How you doing, Rizzo? Nice to meet
you, bro.
>> Yeah,
>> I'm glad that it's not either.
>> No. And then it goes all the way.
>> Yes.
>> And this is unreadable, man.
>> I saw it.
>> So, I want to do the whole
>> We got the We got the good stuff out
here. compliments because now you have
the the daughter here, the brother on
the top right here, and he goes all the
way over here, and you have the lion
looking at them from this area here. We
settled on Man, I'm I'm very popular
with this lions, man. Like, I feel like
a lot of my clients do like the way I
execute lions. So, I'm doing a lion on
his arm and possibly some cups on the
chest area to connect everything as a
single piece. I like that idea a lot.
I'm going to head home. I'm going to
cook. Get my meal preps ready. Start
designing a little bit more and do some
laundry or something.
Meal preps ready to go.
>> Good morning. It is
[clears throat and cough]
I'm about to go to the gym. It is 5:18
in the morning. Uh, my goal is to be on
my way to the shop by 7:00 a.m.
[music]
Damn, it's hot. I got hungry already.
Okay, head home, eat my breakfast, get
ready, head to the shop. Time to head to
the shop. What am I feeling this
morning?
>> [music]
>> I'm ready.
Who grabbed my light, bro? If you going
to use it, put it back. About to set up.
Print out my stencil. I just ordered my
client some food. Should be getting here
in about 15 minutes. Then my client gets
here at 8:30. I'm going to let him eat
his breakfast and I'm going to start
getting my stencil ready to go and set
up my station. Today we're starting with
the outer arm. We got the concept here.
I've been doing a [ __ ] little lions,
bro. But I like doing lions, bro. I
don't even suggest them. Clients just
come in and they're like, "Bro, I want a
lion." So that's exactly what I'mma be
doing, bro. I don't I will do a lion
every single day and I will not get
tired of doing this this beautiful
concept, bro. It fits everywhere. It
looks fashionable, man. [music]
>> Did you get grossed out maybe the first
time you did your first surgery? I'm
pretty sure by the time you did your
first surgery, you had tons of
experience.
>> Oh, yeah. Yeah. I would say the first
time surgery, it was disgusting.
>> Really?
jumping me. Perfect.
That looks nice. Hell yeah. So, this is
what we working with.
It's a lot of stencil everywhere, but I
can see it.
>> [music]
[music]
>> We are taking our first break. We're
about an hour and a half in, maybe close
to 2 hours. So, we're just going to
stretch really quick, use the restroom,
and uh continue. But this cover up is
actually extremely easy. I mean, I'm
just I'm just cruising through it.
[music]
So, 3 hours 9:30. So, 2 hours. So, we
are now 2 hours in and uh we're moving
quick. I just did the first layer of the
whole lion. Uh, what I'm going to start
doing now is just making it brighter cuz
I had to go dark before it gets bright.
>> How you doing? [music]
[laughter]
>> Good. All good.
>> Oh [ __ ] Hold on. Let me see.
[laughter]
>> Okay. So, we are about to add the last
couple details. We're about to finish
day one.
Day one done. That's it for day one. See
you tomorrow.
We completed
day one. It is 3:30 right now. So, we
finished this cover up in 5 hours or so.
I'm going to go to the house now, relax
for a little bit, do a couple chores,
and get ready for tomorrow.
Surprisingly, it's not that hot right
now.
needs. Now's the time to save. Might the
best around for one week only. Shop
Ashley's best
>> quick errand. I got to go to the store
and get some flowers and balloons cuz
tomorrow is our little niece's uh
birthday. After the store, I got to do
some chores at home.
Look at that sunset right there. Damn.
You want to go for a walk for now? Do
you want to go for a walk? Let's go.
Day two of this project. I think I might
even finish the whole thing today, but
we'll see. We still have a third day
just in case. It is early in the
morning. It is 5:20. Uh about to head to
the gym.
Another day. Um update on the gym. still
sucks. Go to the house, eat breakfast,
get ready, and um maybe edit a little
bit. I do have a little extra time, so
maybe I might be editing. Editing real
quick, eating my breakfast. But we have
a special visitor down here just waiting
to steal my food.
Yeah, you.
Day two and we need a good song. Let's
see.
[music]
>> [music]
>> Just got to the shop and I realized that
I forgot my meal prep.
Damn. Just ordered my client some
breakfast so he can go ahead and eat,
get the day started. I'm going to get my
stencils ready and set up my station.
Here it is.
Chest area. Hopefully, it's not too big,
but we'll see. I'll print out a second
one just in case. Here's a stencil.
Yeah,
I'm going to
[music]
[music] All
>> [music]
[music]
>> right, we are now about Let's see what
time is it.
It is 11:27,
so we've been going at it for about two
hours and a half. Um, so yeah, we're
moving a pretty good pace. I like it.
Like where everything's going. Love it.
And this is what it looked like about 2
and 1/2 hours in.
All right, let's get some food. So, we
just finished eating. Um, we're about to
start doing the rest of the project now.
[music]
Hey,
[music]
hey, hey.
>> [music]
>> I am now ready to start adding my light
gray and my white highlights. The system
that I'm going to be using, it is a 10%
gray, 20% gray, and white highlights.
I'm one. You got to have one.
We'll keep you posted. If anything, I'll
see you tomorrow morning. Okay.
>> Day two completed. I was supposed to
tattoo my client for 3 days back to
back, but we finished everything today.
So, he said, "Why don't we just tattoo
my other arm?" But he said this in the
morning.
We finished tattooing and he said, "I
don't know if I want to get tattooed
tomorrow." He was in pain. like it it is
painful. Tattoo your chest, your
shoulder, and your arm. It is not easy.
So, he's going to let me know in the
next 2 to 3 hours. He said no.
[laughter] He's not getting tattooed
today, which I knew he was going to say
no. So, what I'm going to do today, uh,
I woke up a little a little later today.
It's 700 a.m., so I'm going to go to the
gym real quick and then head to the shop
cuz I'm going I'm still going to meet my
clients. I have to take pictures. I
didn't do it yesterday. And I really
like how a tattoo looks the the day
after. It's very subtle. No more
redness. So, it looks beautiful. About
to take some pictures and head home,
relax for today.
All right. To finish off this week, I
have a consultation right now with my
client. It is uh 400 p.m. So, I'm about
to meet him at the restaurant and talk
about his tattoo. This is a one day
project, so I'm just going to tattoo him
tomorrow only. Before we continue with
this video, I want to show you how this
project turned out.
[music]
How you feeling?
>> I'm excited.
>> Yeah.
>> I I'm [ __ ] you not.
>> I when I first downloaded Tik Tok like
[ __ ] 5 years ago, you were one of the
first pages that I ever [ __ ]
>> This is really That's what I want for
>> This is She's like five. She's like,
"You're working?"
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah.
Uh they they were really nice people. Uh
they brought the energy, so I like it.
We're going to be doing Lord of the
Rings as a cover up, so I'm excited. Uh
it's going to be a quick day tomorrow.
We're going to meet at 8:30. We're going
to finish, I would say. I'm already
assuming we're going to finish around
3:00 p.m. My beautiful queen wanted uh
Can I get some In and Out? And here I am
in the line of In-N-Out.
>> That Thank you. Appreciate it.
Last day of the week. We're going to
finish off strong.
[music]
We just got done. So, now I'm going to
head home, eat my breakfast, get ready.
I'm ready to get this day started, man.
It's going to be nice and easy. It's
going to be an easy day to put a good
song to start the day. Let's see.
[music]
Just wait for the clients that about to
be here any minute. [music]
[music]
Are you going to miss it?
>> Huh?
>> Are you going to miss it?
>> Oh, yeah. It's
>> part of the [laughter] journey.
>> Yeah.
>> Last day that you're going to see this
tattoo.
>> No. No. [laughter]
>> The one thing the one reason it has like
sentimental value was obviously
like I designed it. So, I was like, "Oh,
it's going to look tough." And then it
>> And it didn't look tough. If
>> I didn't get the shitty ass tattoo, I
wouldn't be here.
>> Exactly. But Exactly.
Good morning. How's everybody doing?
We're about to do another crazy cover
up. Look at this [ __ ] right here. What
is going on, man?
>> It's a mess.
>> But we're going to fix it top. And today
we're going to cover this up. What was
that? You ever come back of like
futuristic art?
[music]
Heat. Heat.
[music]
So if you like this
get better, my
>> All right, so we are taking our first
break. We're about to continue with
adding my gray tones and my white
highlights and to really make this
tattoo pop. Uh, but as of right now, I
just added my first layer to I can see
shapes so I can figure out how I want to
make this really stand out. What's my
approach and things like that?
>> How you feeling, brother?
>> Oh, yeah. [laughter]
[music]
We recently just took another break. We
wanted to eat some food. What I'm about
to start doing right now is adding my
gray tones with my white highlights. My
gray tones are going to be 10% and 15%
gray. So, very close to white. The
reason why is because the piece is
really dark. So, I got to be able to
make it pop as much as possible. Once I
see how the grays settle, then that's
when I'm I'm going to make the decisions
to start using white.
[music]
>> [music]
>> That's why
my pleasure. brother. All right.
Whatever you guys need, just let me
know. All right. I'm ready for you
whenever.
>> All right, guys.
>> We are done with the last project of the
week. Now I get to go home, relax, and I
enjoy my weekend. Really great energy
from my client and and his brothers. So,
with that being said, if you're a tattoo
artist, I hope you learned something
from this video. And if you're a tattoo
enthusiast, I hope you were entertained.
Thank you so much for watching. I'll see
you guys on the next video. Peace.
[music]
Heat. Heat.
[music]
>> [music]
[music]
>> Heat. Heat.
[music]
>> [music]